Chen Qichang ( zh, t=陳其昌, w=Ch'en Ch'i-ch'ang; 1900–1942) was a Chinese

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

politician. He was an early member of

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

and was active in the

labor movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...

. He broke with the party to join with

Chen Duxiu Chen Duxiu ( zh, t=陳獨秀, p=Chén Dúxiù, w=Ch'en Tu-hsiu; 9 October 1879 – 27 May 1942) was a Chinese revolutionary, writer, educator, and political philosopher who co-founded the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1921, serving as its fi ...

in his new

Trotskyist Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

group and became a prominent figure among Chinese Trotskyists. He was killed by Japanese

gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...

while struggling against Japanese occupiers in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

during

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

. He had a number of pseudonyms and pen names, including Chen Qingchen (陈清晨), Chen Zhongshan (陈仲山), and Jiang Weiliang (江维亮).

Biography

Early life and CCP

Chen was born in 1900 in

Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...

and came from a poor family.Benton, Gregor
Prophets Unarmed
He was admitted to and studied at

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

in the 1920s. He studied

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

but switched to

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

. While at school, he joined

(CCP) in 1925 and served at various lower-level local party committees in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. After Chiang Kai-Shek carried out

Shanghai massacre The Shanghai massacre of 12 April 1927, the April 12 Purge or the April 12 Incident as it is commonly known in China, was the violent suppression of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) organizations and leftist elements in Shanghai by forces support ...

to initiate white terror in China, he fled to

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

, and then to Shanghai to participate in the labor movement there. He organized

textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

and

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

workers in

Shanghai French Concession The Shanghai French Concession was a concessions in China, foreign concession in Shanghai, Republic of China (1912–1949), China from 1849 until 1943. For much of the 20th century, the area covered by the former French Concession remained the ...

. One of his schoolmate at Peking University was the

Wang Shiwei Wang Shiwei (; March 12, 1906 – July 1, 1947) was a Chinese journalist and literary writer. He became famous for his contribution to the Chinese history of modern revolution and to Chinese modern literature. Wang joined the Chinese Communist ...

, who would become a celebrated communist writer. Later he financially assisted Wang's wife when she had a

miscarriage Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion, is an end to pregnancy resulting in the loss and expulsion of an embryo or fetus from the womb before it can fetal viability, survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks ...

in 1930. It was also said that Chen introduced Wang into the CCP. Wang later left the party but then rejoined in 1937 when he arrived in

Yan'an Yan'an; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternatively spelled as Yenan is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi Province of China, province, China, bordering Shanxi to the east and Gansu to the west. It administers several c ...

to join

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

Chinese Red Army The Chinese Red Army, formally the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army( zh, labels=no, t=中國工農紅軍) or just the Red Army( zh, labels=no, t=紅軍), was the military wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1928 to 1937. I ...

. However, he was arrested by the CCP police for penning an article titled ''Wild Lilly'' which was critical of the party

bureaucracy Bureaucracy ( ) is a system of organization where laws or regulatory authority are implemented by civil servants or non-elected officials (most of the time). Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments ...

Kang Sheng Kang Sheng (; 4 November 1898 – 16 December 1975), born Zhang Zongke (), was a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official, politician and calligrapher best known for having overseen the work of the CCP's internal security and intelligence appara ...

accused him of being a Trotskyist and spy (and it was possible his early association with Chen Qichang, in Kang's claims, substantiated the charge, even though Wang never was a Trotskyist). Wang was later

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

by Kang's orders.

Trotskyism

Chen read

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

's opinions about China in 1929. Agreeing with Trotsky's views, he joined former CCP leader

in turning to Trotskyism and was subsequently expelled by CCP. Among those who joined the Trotskyist cause included Zheng Chaolin and Chen's schoolmate Wang Fanxi (not to be confused with Wang Shiwei). Wang Fanxi later highly praised Chen for his high moral standards and personal courage. Along with these associates, Chen became a part of Chinese Communist Left Opposition. During an internal conflict among Chinese Trotskyists in 1935, Chen supported Chen Duxiu and opposed Liu Renjing, who announced that Chen Qichang was expelled from the group. However, later Liu and a few others were arrested by

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

police, and Liu as a result defected to the government. Liu's proclamations then became moot. The same year, C. Frank Glass, Yin Kuan, Wang Fanxi and Chen Qichang met to rebuild the Trotskyist organization.

Writing to Lu Xun

In 1936, Chen wrote to prominent author

Lu Xun Lu Xun ( zh, c=魯迅, p=Lǔ Xùn, ; 25 September 188119 October 1936), pen name of Zhou Shuren, born Zhou Zhangshou, was a Chinese writer. A leading figure of modern Chinese literature, he wrote in both vernacular and literary Chinese as a no ...

in an attempt to win him over to Trotskyism. However, Lu was very ill and Feng Xuefeng replied to Chen with a vituperous and later well-known reply on Lu's behalf. The reply contained insinuation that Trotskyists were collaborators with the Japanese Army. This was consistent with

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

's false accusations that Trotskyists were secretly working with

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

and imperialist Japan.

Resistance against Japan and death

During the

(part of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

) the Japanese army occupied

. He participated in underground resistance there. In 1942 he was arrested by Japanese forces and executed.

Family

Chen's wife, Chen Shang Yanfang was born same year as he in 1900 and died in 1991. She was said to have been survived by a son and daughter. One of the sons, Chen Daotong, reconciled with CCP but after establishment of

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

he was arrested in 1952 during Mao Zedong's anti-Trotskyist purge (to win favor from

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

during Stalin's rule at the time). He was released in 1956. He remained in contact with Zheng Chaolin, one of his fellow Trotskyists who was released much later in 1979. Chen Daotong died in 2014 from lung cancer.

References

{{Reflist 1900 births 1942 deaths Peking University alumni Expelled members of the Chinese Communist Party Governors of Liaoning Chinese Marxists Chinese socialists Chinese Trotskyists People from Luoyang People killed in the Second Sino-Japanese War